...And now for something completely different

In the last week I have created six videos for the newspaper.

I was doing videos fairly regularly during football season but, due to both my work computer and my home computer being slow, making the videos became very annoying. My home computer was slightly faster, so I did most of them here...until it blew up.

Some stuff fried inside my computer, luckily I didn't lose any stuff on my hard drives, but I'm trying to be a bit more focused on archiving.

But I had to fix my computer. Luckily there was a credit deal at newegg.com, so now my computer fasterific! That's right, I'm making up words.

What I really want to do is make a true journalistic video about something that matters. I was hoping to get some help as far as subject matter, but it's looking like I'm just going to have to go it alone.

Anyway, instead of a pile of photos I thought I'd change it up and post some videos.  Enjoy.











Since I started posting videos I was looking at The Facts Video channel on youtube. I realized they aren't really credited except for at the end, not saying you shouldn't watch Holly's, but you are reading my blog...so just in case you are partial to my work, here are a few of my better ones.

This was the one I had the most fun shooting so far with actual voice interview describing the event to go along with the video and photos. And there is...ya know, ZOMBIES!

Can't think of a clever title

See, I'm back in less then two months. Hurray for me.

Since I've been gone from the blog I've been playing some games, using a few of them to actually connect with my friends who are far, far away. (Everyone move down here, it's warm!)

But I have actually spent the last few weeks with my mind obsessed with a possible business idea. I honestly felt like a genius, because I'd never heard about anything like it before, I even searched the internet and found nothing similar. So I spent the better part of a day frantically scrawling down details and plans, imagining what could happen if it took off.

The next day, first thing in the morning, I did another search and found a very similar idea. It broke my heart. But it looks like it's not exactly working for them...so I've adjusted my idea and we'll see if I ever actually get to the point where I seriously consider talking about it with people.

Anyway, on to some photos.


Swimming is fun to shoot, but I've said that before.
The one below I've been thinking about for awhile; getting someone completely underwater from over them.  It didn't work exactly like I wanted, but I think it's a good first attempt.  The water distorted her face, but I like the way it curved her and the lines.



I believe I've mentioned it previously, but my favorite sport to shoot is boxing.  Probably because it's just fun to watch from right next to the ring, but also because I don't cover it often.


The story is about the guy on the right, Terrance Woods. He will be boxing on ESPN2 or 3 on Friday, I believe.  He seemed pretty damn good.  They were having him box for eight rounds, with different guys every couple rounds, so they stayed fresh and he had to deal with it.   In his sixth or seventh round they put in a really big dude and after Woods got a few good shots the guy just kept running away; actually almost turning around to move faster a few times. I wish I had those channels.


A cool shot that didn't run because it was a junior varsity kid (boo!). Very intense.


This little girl was the first place female finisher in a local 10k and her dad still gave her a hard time about being slow. Sports parents are jerks.




She was playing a game where you keep a feather floating by blowing before it gets too far down.


Didn't run. Double boo.

That's it for now. I was going to post a shot I took so I could tell the story of how I almost got run over by a car.

But that's the story, I was shooting tailgating and was crouching in a driveway packed full of cars and the guy didn't see me and started to drive his Escalade into my back.
No harm though.

WTF: I'm a big deal in Latvia

Every so often I indulge myself in pretending I'm well known. That my work is lapped up by visual hungry eyes across the world and that their words (and possibly donations) of gratitude just haven't made it to me yet.

Then I wake up and do my job, but I still have a smile on my face, whether I'm widely known or not.

But...I guess I'm catching on in Latvia.


Is Latka from Taxi viewing my blog?

Within the last week I've had 24 pageviews from somewhere in Latvia. Which is kind of sad, because I've only had 38 views from a country that contains every single person I have ever known. What the hell people?

I don't have a lot of knowledge on this topic, but I'm curious if other bloggers have similar experience. I know when I had a regular web site I didn't get any weird international hits.

So...Latvians (is that right?) make some comments; let me know what brought you to the shining bastion of my weird, pointless blog.

On to some photos.

Had yet another portrait to do for sports. The sports editor calls them features, when he means portraits. "A feature on B'wood wrestling" to me means a non-game time photo. Like practice or something, so I kind of expect there to be something going on, but sometimes there isn't. Because to him feature means portrait. Then I am screwed because I wasn't thinking of clever portrait ideas, but now I have it figured out. :D No more tears.

So for the Brazoswood Wrestling...feature, I had an idea to do a really spotlighted photo of the kids he wanted. So I made a snoot (a narrow tube that limits the light coming out of a flash). It was kind of easy, I just cut the middle out of a box of cereal and taped it back together.

The shots worked almost like I wanted, except I wanted the light higher, but there was no way to do that.



I also had to do a group shot of three girl wrestlers. I was going to do it the same way, in their stances or whatever, but one of them wasn't cooperating. So it turned out a little lame. But they thought it would be funny to do the No Evil Monkey poses, it didn't make the paper though. :(


Mimicing the three wise monkeys of Japanese proverb; Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru. They see no evil, see no evil and speak no evil.

I read up a little on the monkeys, not the lame "Hey, Hey" band of monkeys, the proverb ones.

Apparently there is a fourth monkey. The "Do No Evil" monkey. Can you guess what he covers??

That's right. His crotch.